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. 2021 May 16;14(10):2581.
doi: 10.3390/ma14102581.

Research on the Release of Dangerous Compounds from the BTEX and PAHs Groups in Industrial Casting Conditions

Mariusz Holtzer  1 , Rafał Dańko  1 , Sylwester Piasny  2 , Michał Kubecki  3 , Dariusz Drożyński  1 , Agnieszka Roczniak  1 , Mateusz Skrzyński  1 , Angelika Kmita  4
Affiliations

Research on the Release of Dangerous Compounds from the BTEX and PAHs Groups in Industrial Casting Conditions

Mariusz Holtzer et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

The assessment of the harmfulness of moulding and core sands is mainly based on investigations of compositions of gases emitted by liquid casting alloys during the mould pouring. The results of investigations of moulding sands obtained under industrial conditions are presented in this paper. A unique research stand was designed and built for this aim. It allowed us to determine emissions of gases at individual stages of casting a mass up to 50 kg. This approach enables simulation of foundry conditions. Moulding sands bound by organic binders (phenol-formaldehyde; furan), inorganic binders and green sand, were subjected to investigations. The composition of gases that evolved during the individual stages, pouring, cooling and knocking out, was tested each time, and the contents of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BETX) were analysed. Investigations indicated that the emission of gases from sands with inorganic binders is negligible when compared with the emission of gases from sands with organic binders. The emission of gases from green sand is placed in the middle of the scale. As an example: the sand with furan resin emitted 84 mg of BTEX (in recalculation for 1 kg of sand) while from sands with inorganic binders there was a maximum of 2.2 mg (for 1 kg of sand). In the case of sands with inorganic binders, MI and MC sands indicated comparable and very low emissions of gases from the PAHs group, at the level of 0.018 mg and 0.019 mg for 1 kg of sand, respectively. The higher emission of PAHs from MG sand is the result of its different way of hardening (a binder was of an organic character) than of sands MI and MC.

Keywords: BTEX; PAHs; emission; environmental protection; foundry industry; hazardous pollutants.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The scheme of the stand for pouring, cooling and shaking-out: (A) pouring stand, (B) suction system.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The view of the testing unit during different stages of the tests (a) mould sand prepared for pouring (b) pouring the mould sand (c) cooling of the mould sand (d) knocking out the casting.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Emission of BTEX from moulding sands in industrial conditions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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